,transcribed from the #ahgb ,longmans1 ,green1 ,reader1 and ,dyer edition by ,david ,price4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,light ,,in ,,the ,,hand ,,of ,,love3 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,,plea ,,for ,the ,british and ,foreign ,bible ,society4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,,sermon ,,preached ,,in ,,st4 ,,paul',s ,,cathedral1 ,,on ,,tuesday1 ,,april #cj1 #ahgb4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,by ,c4 ,j4 ,,vaughan1 ,d4,d4 ,,master ,,of ,,the ,,temple1 ,,and ,,chaplain ,,in ,,ordinary ,,to ,,the ,,queen4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,,published ,,by ,,request4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,,london3 ,,longmans1 ,,green1 ,,reader1 ,,and ,,dyer4 #ahgb4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,light ,,in ,,the ,,hand ,,of ,,love3 ,a ,,sermon4 #a ,,john i4 #e4 iv4 #af4 8,god is ,light40 8,god is ,love40 ,,round these two centres revolves the ,theology of ,st4 ,john4 ,he is named 8the ,divine10 the ,theologian2 and this is his scheme of ,theology1 his system of ,divinity2 not an enumeration of doctrines1 not an enunciation of ,articles1 not ,calvinism1 not ,arminianism1 not ,romanism1 and not ,protestantism2 but just these two principles1 higher and deeper than any question which divides parties or distinguishes sects3 the first1 8,god is ,light10 and the second1 8,god is ,love40 ,we are not saying1 ,god forbid6 that two brief maxims1 one a metaphor1 the other an abstraction1 in such sense comprehend ,theology as that there shall be no need of express declarations of fact1 or of definite revelations of truth1 beside or beyond1 within or above1 them4 ,nor are we saying--this1 too1 would be ignorance1 as much as irreverence--that this very ,epistle of ,st4 ,john is destitute of method or system or logical coherence2 consists only of a few platitudes and a few tautologies1 the amiable feeblenesses of a pious old age1 encouraging the scoffer's notion that there is nothing in religion but what comes naturally to every man1 whether to originate1 to utter1 to judge1 or to refuse4 ,of ,st4 ,john's writings1 more perhaps than of any part of ,holy ,scripture1 is the ,divine saying true1 8,thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent1 and hast revealed them unto babes40 ,that which to the self-sufficient critic is a simplicity bordering on the puerile1 is to the experienced ,christian rather a profound mystery1 of which the ,holy ,spirit of ,god keeps the key4 7#a7 8,god is ,light40 8,in ,him is no darkness at all40 ,he is the ,light of truth1 and the ,light of holiness1 and the ,light of direction1 and the ,light of comfort4 ,where ,he1 who is the ,light1 shines not1 or shines only in some dim reflection--of ,nature1 or reason1 or conscience1 or tradition2 not directly1 not personally1 not in ,christ as the ,saviour1 not in the ,holy ,ghost as the ,comforter--there is darkness2 darkness four-fold1 like the light--the darkness of ignorance1 and the darkness of corruption1 and the darkness of error1 and the darkness of misery4 8,god is ,light10--and the purpose of ,light is to shine3 but the light itself may be set under a bushel1 or the thick walls1 the opaque windows1 of the soul's dwelling may shut it out4 ,vice1 superstition1 false religion1 cowardice1 indifference1 law itself1 may bar the entrance of ,him who is the ,light4 ,such power is the mystery of mysteries in the present3 how ,god should be ,light1 and yet the darkness may refuse to let the ,light in4 8,god is ,light0--first and before all else4 ,they who would know ,god must know ,him thus4 ,no other attribute1 no other manifestation1 can be substituted for this or prefixed to it4 ,attempts have been made to displace it4 ,to put1 for example1 the second text first--love before light2 or something else--obedience1 docility1 humility1 patience4 ,it will not answer4 ,the transposition bewrays itself by the failure4 8,god is ,light10 and he who would know ,god must first come to ,him as the ,light4 ,some have said1 ,a half-light is better than none4 ,better twilight than thick darkness4 ,so far we agree with them4 ,but when they have gone on to recommend an acquiescence--temporary at least1 prudential1 deferential--in the half-light2 when they have spoken of the necessity of preparation for the full light1 of the peril of precipitating illumination1 of the duty of forecasting probable consequences--such as a disarrangement of existing habits and systems1 an exposure of errors1 an unmasking of superstitions1 before we have the machinery ready for the education and for the fostering of the man isolated by the very enlightenment--then we say1 ,god is ,light1 and there is no communion between light and darkness4 ,prudence is out of place where the question is of the ,divine self-manifestation4 ,at all risks ,god must shine1 and ,god must be trusted to take care of ,his shining4 ,man1 by ,god's gift1 has a right to the light4 ,as well might you portion off one strip or one chink of the sky1 and say to your dependant1 ,i forbid you the rest of it--as well might you shut up within prison walls a man who had done you no wrong1 and tell him that candle or rushlight was good enough for him to see by--as undertake to settle for one class or one tribe or one race of mankind the amount of ,divine illumination which shall suffice for them1 on the plea that to give more might disturb existing arrangements of civil or religious polity1 or that until you could provide the culture you must hesitate to give the life4 ,god dealt not thus with us1 when ,he lit the flame of reviving light in this nation of ,england4 ,first ,he brought into it1 in this house and that1 in this heart and that1 the new-found1 the dearly-prized treasure of ,his ,word read in the tongue wherein we were born2 and then ,he gave the new-made man a ,reformed ,communion in which to worship4 8,god is ,light10 and they who know ,god must fearlessly let in upon others the light communicated to themselves4 7#b7 ,for1 indeed1 brethren1 the second text is the mouthpiece and interpreter of the former4 8,god is ,love40 ,the ,light is no distant1 self-contained1 abstract thing--like a science or a philosophy which men may study if they will1 but which comes not forth itself to invite or to embrace its votary4 ,the ,light of which ,st4 ,john speaks1 the ,light which is ,god1 has another name besides--a name which describes it as offering1 volunteering1 entreating sympathy--a name which expresses the yearning of a heart1 and the stretching out of a hand1 towards an object of concern1 compassion1 and commiseration4 ,if 8,god is ,light0 be ambiguous as a direction1 8,god is ,love0 speaks plainly1 and is no proverb4 ,that voice1 wheresoever it is heard--that voice1 which is articulate only in the ,gospel--has set in motion palsied limbs1 and quickened dead souls1 in the transmission and propagation of a ,divine ,light4 8,si documentum quris1 circumspice60 ,this day1 this scene1 this assembly1 is the proof of it4 8,i looked1 and behold1 an hand was sent unto me2 and lo1 a roll of a book was therein40 ,the hand was the ,hand of ,love1 and the book was the ,book of ,light4 ,the ,book was the ,book of ,light4 ,when you hold it1 as this day1 closed in your hand2 not opening it1 for interpretation--that is not your office--but carrying it forth closed for another to open2 when you think of it as a whole1 gathering into one the scattered rays of its light1 that you may say in a word why it is that you are devoting time and toil and substance to its dissemination2 this1 ,i think1 will be your account of it4 7#a7 ,the ,bible is the revelation to me of a living ,god4 ,and by a living ,god1 ,i mean a ,god whose life is towards me3 not such a life as that which ,elijah sketched in mockery as the life of ,baal--a kind of life which made him deaf to man's cry2 a life separate and selfish and distant--talking1 pursuing1 journeying1 per-adventure sleeping4 ,the very opposite of this4 ,a ,god whose activity is towards this world4 ,a ,god whose eye and whose ear is ever open to the conduct and condition of ,his creatures--whose vigilance never tires1 and yet is a vigilance even more of concern than of observation4 ,one whom ,i cannot escape from if ,i would1 but whose inevitable ,presence is the very cause of my strength1 my motion1 my being4 ,the revelation of a personal ,god is the first gift of this ,bible4 ,so intent is the ,bible upon this work1 that it risks many taunts1 many misconstructions1 in securing it4 ,it is so earnest to make me see ,god in everything1 that it cares not if it seems to say1 ,god does everything that happens2 even hardens the enemy's heart1 even sends the error which infatuates1 even commissions the lying spirit1 or punishes the prophet for going where he was bidden4 ,the ,bible risks these things--leaves them to be corrected by opposite sayings1 or by the intuitions of that conscience to which it addresses itself--that it may at least effect this--make me see ,god1 hear ,god1 be conscious of ,god1 everywhere and in all things2 assure me that nothing is1 with ,god1 either too great for ,his control1 or too little for ,his notice1 if it affects me--my welfare1 my happiness1 my work1 or my end4 ,anything1 anything1 says the voice of the ,light1 rather than a ,god too great to act1 or a ,god too sublime to feel6 ,say at once1 ,where ,god is1 ,he works4 ,call upon ,him in thy prosperity1 that ,he may bless thee2 call upon ,him in the time of trouble1 so shall ,he hear thee1 and thou shalt praise ,him6 7#b7 ,the ,bible is the revelation to me of a ,divine ,saviour4 ,i carry about me1 ,i carry within me1 a burden of guilt and sin4 ,ignore this1 in thy dealing with me--and however eloquent1 however wise1 however lofty thy counsels1 they touch me not1 they address not me4 ,recognize this when thou speakest to me of a ,god around and above me2 and however humble1 however simple1 however human thy monitions1 they find me out1 they penetrate me1 they thrill me through and through1 because they deal with me as ,i am1 and they tell me of that which ,i want4 ,the ,book of ,light is the revelation of a ,saviour4 ,from its first page to its latest1 it is the testimony of ,jesus4 ,when ,i see this1 all is made plain4 ,patriarchs1 and lawgivers1 and psalmists1 and prophets1 and kings1 all1 if they are in ,god's ,book1 point on to1 or point back to1 ,jesus4 ,descriptions of life1 personal and national--records of sins and vices and crimes--narratives of wrath and mercy1 of judgment and restoration--even details of ordinance and ritual1 which were else trivial or wearisome--become instinct with meaning1 brilliant with beauty1 when ,i read them in the ,book of ,light1 because ,i know that there they all speak of ,jesus1 and add something--something real1 definite1 tangible--to the hope of pardon and acceptance which is bound up for me in ,him4 7#c7 ,the ,bible is the revelation to me of an everlasting ,heaven4 ,we cannot exaggerate the power of that word4 ,the experiences of this life are various for man and man3 for most men they are various from period to period of the unit life4 ,we say not whether1 on the whole--taking the average of men1 and the average also of the life--it is better1 if earth were all1 to have been or not to have been4 ,but one thing is certain--that this earth is not1 cannot be1 for the most fortunate1 either rest or satisfaction4 ,death alone would forbid that4 ,change1 decay1 separation--separation of hearts yet more than of lives--discords and discrepancies making union here impossible--would alone make a man write 8vanity of vanities0 upon his tomb4 ,it is this1 it is this above all1 which gives the ,bible its power4 ,it reveals ,heaven4 ,it tells of an immortality which shall reconcile differences2 an immortality which shall redress wrongs2 an immortality which shall re-unite the severed1 and knit all hearts in one1 in the haven1 and in the ,heaven1 and in the ,heart1 of ,god4 ,marvel not if a ,book possessing this secret is a ,book omnipotent over the affections of mankind4 ,believe it1 and life takes a new colour4 ,if the hand of love carries this roll1 it comes indeed for the healing of the nations6 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,hand of ,love bears the ,book of ,light4 ,quite inexplicable1 without love1 the scene before us this day4 ,philanthropy1 without the ,gospel1 was not4 ,charity herself is the creation of ,jesus ,christ4 ,how much more that charity which is the love of souls6 ,this ,society1 now keeping her sixty-eighth birthday1 has chosen a distinct province4 ,i would commend her to you1 brethren--nay1 you are here because you love her--on two special grounds4 7#a7 ,she is the witness--as such1 ,god has owned her--to the primary importance of the spiritual life4 ,light first1 then love4 ,illumination the condition of union4 ,first the quickening1 then the combination4 ,first the spirit1 then the body4 ,first the soul1 then the ,church4 ,the argument is sometimes turned against us4 ,you set aside the ,church4 ,you treat the individual as though he were a unit4 ,you wait not for priest or presbyter2 you intrude yourself between the man and the community2 you care not if you even sow discord--if you even make a man see the lie in the ,church's right hand4 ,what if one of your agents offer your ,book--,divine1 of course1 it is--to a man prohibited by rule and censure from reading it8 ,what if1 as he reads thus against order your ,divine ,book1 he should perceive1 in some point or in many points1 the hollowness1 the nakedness of the system in which he has been brought up8 ,what if you pass on1 and leave him an isolated man1 a separatist1 a schismatic1 where before he was the member of a body8 ,and you have done this of the self-will1 of the separate schismatical action1 which is a feature of your organization6 ,the charge is--let us understand it--that in offering the light promiscuously1 we set the ,bible above the ,church4 ,we ought to have waited till ,rome gave leave--till ,rome unsaid her saying--till the unchangeable system changed itself--till ,rome gave the ,word of ,god free course amongst her people6 ,till then1 we can only give light at the cost of love4 ,we divide1 we dissever1 we isolate1 the life from the communion4 ,we leave the man taught of ,god an ,ishmael among his brethren4 ,brethren6 we are not careful to answer concerning this matter4 ,if it be so2 if the possession of light be anywhere1 in any ,christian community1 contraband2 if a ,church prohibits the ,bible2 if a member of that ,church1 possessing a ,bible1 reads in it that ,church's rebuke2 if at last1 trying all means of subordination1 he must take his choice between his ,god and his ,church--we did not suggest it2 we did all we could to harmonize and to reconcile2 we even took ,rome's ,version1 and bade him read out of it the words of life2 we know how earnestly the ,bible presses communion--how strong will be the pressure upon its student1 not to live alone1 not to isolate himself--on the very contrary1 to feel1 to cherish1 to insist upon ,church membership--but if--if the ,book of ,light does condemn1 in the man's conscience1 the ,church of his birth and of his ,baptism--can we1 ought we1 to lie to him8 ,can we1 ought we1 to withhold the light1 lest haply the light should condemn8 ,the light of ,god is the right of mankind2 the hand of love must offer it6 ,this ,society is1 we frankly say1 a witness to the primary importance of the individual life4 ,it is ,god's order4 ,out of the individual--not the other way--grows the community4 ,it was so at ,jerusalem1 it was so at ,damascus1 it was so at ,antioch1 it was so at ,philippi1 it was so at ,ephesus1 it was so at ,rome4 ,it was so--to come nearer home--in ,england1 in ,london1 at ,oxford1 at ,gloucester1 at ,paul's ,cross1 and in ,smithfield fires4 ,all ,god's mightiest works of grace have sprung out of individual convictions4 ,to wait till an irreversible judgment is reversed--to wait till a bigoted and tyrannical ,church invites her members to read and to hear1 to meditate and to judge--is1 in other words1 to decide that ,god's truth shall wait man's convenience1 that souls shall live out their days ignorant of the ,word that 7through grace7 quickens6 ,my brethren1 we but return to primitive usage1 when we claim this prerogative1 this majesty1 for the ,book of ,god4 ,dear in all ages has this writing been to the heart of the ,church's martyrs and the ,church's saints4 ,it is a new view1 this1 of the right of a community to stand between a man and his ,bible6 ,surely it is a putting of proprieties and decorums in the place of truth and experience and the one thing needful4 ,is it thus that ,god acts8 ,what greatest of ,god's works has been wrought by method and rule8 ,cornelius and his assemblage receiving the ,holy ,ghost before ,baptism is a type1 surely1 for every age1 of the manner in which ,god ,himself1 in the free1 unfettered breathing of ,his ,divine ,spirit1 passes by at ,his will the mechanism of order1 and reveals ,himself in the liberty of an elemental strength4 7#b7 ,but while we assert thus earnestly the supremacy of conscience1 and the right of the individual man to the possession of the ,book of ,light1 we would also1 and not less earnestly1 commend to you this great ,society as the servant and the minister of all the ,churches4 ,very touching is it1 to ,christian hearts1 to read the simple record of her ministrations in this chief capacity4 ,the destitution of the ,church in ,wales called her into existence4 ,the ,church in ,ireland had been for more than a century without an edition of a complete native ,bible1 when she interposed4 ,the fortunes of ,continental nations have their reflection in her history4 ,the wars of the first ,french ,revolution are chronicled in her account-books4 ,her first ,french ,bible was printed for the prisoners of war in #ahje4 ,through her efforts1 in the same disastrous time1 hundreds of ,spanish captives might be seen in prison yards reading in their own tongue the living1 life-giving ,word4 ,the great ,abolition ,act of #ahcd suggested the gift of the ,new ,testament to a hundred thousand of the then emancipated slaves4 ,the ,spanish ,revolution of #ahfh opened a new country to the ,gospel1 and has spread already two hundred thousand copies of the ,holy ,scriptures among the people of that still distracted and storm-tossed land4 ,the consolidation of ,italy--last of all1 the erection of a constitutional throne on the ,roman ,capitol itself--has been followed by the formation of a new ,bible ,society1 to which we give the right hand of fellowship1 and hope ere long to resign the field which is her own4 ,the protracted agonies of a yet nearer neighbour1 under a succession of strokes and plagues unexampled in history1 have been soothed by the holy offices of this ,society1 extending1 alike to ,imperialist1 ,republican1 ,communist prisoner1 the comfort1 in his hour of distress1 of that ,book not of this world1 which at once blesses earth and opens ,heaven4 ,not a country1 not a province1 escapes the notice of that vigilant eye1 which watches from the shores of ,england each door opened by the ,providence of ,god for the entry of the ,gospel of ,jesus ,christ4 ,no ,society1 of this ,church or that1 for ,christian ,missions1 can dispense with her aid in furnishing the divine material4 ,in two hundred and fifty ,versions1 of the languages and dialects spoken on the face of this earth by nations of the great dispersion1 more than one hundred millions of copies of ,god's ,word have been issued1 or aided in the issuing1 by this marvellous agency of evangelization4 ,brethren6 an organization thus blessed1 thus vivified1 by the ,omnipotent ,hand1 stands no longer on the defensive in the battle-field of ,christianity4 ,one by one1 unfriendly voices are silenced4 ,one by one1 enemies are becoming friends4 ,already the reverend rulers of our own ,church1 with comparatively few exceptions1 have seen their way to sympathy and co-operation4 ,it was ungrateful--,i know it was involuntary--to accept help for all manner of ,church action1 and to refuse thanks1 or even recognition1 to the hands which bountifully supplied it4 ,we thank ,god1 those days are past4 ,without ceasing to be the handmaid of all ,churches1 the ,british and ,foreign ,bible ,society is certainly the friend1 the 8deaconess10 of one4 ,your presence to-day in this great ,metropolitan ,cathedral--where so lately ,royalty itself bowed the knee1 in thanksgiving for a precious life restored1 to the all-ruling ,majesty in the heavens--proves that your work is regarded and honoured1 as it ought to be1 by that great ,national ,church of ,england1 of which you are all1 ,i well know1 either dutiful members or else cordial well-wishers4 ,thus our tried and honoured ,society sets out on another year of anxious1 responsible1 yet 7under ,god7 most hopeful service4 ,we give thanks to-day1 we pray also to-day1 for this mighty bulwark--it is so--of the national prosperity6 ,every largest1 every humblest offering1 of time or wealth1 of effort or sympathy1 given to her1 is given1 be ye well assured1 to ,england's honour1 to ,england's strength1 to ,england's prosperity4 ,the land of the ,bible is a land of light1 a land of peace1 and a land of liberty4 ,nations may war for fame or supremacy1 for treasure or territory1 for frontier or empire--war may breed war1 and an iron heel alone coerce the savage writhings of an implacable foe--,england's peace1 ,england's honour1 is in surer safe-keeping1 so long as she acknowledges the ,christ of the ,bible1 and suffers not a creeping infidelity to seduce her from the allegiance of the life-giving ,god4 ,but ,oh1 brethren1 let us not be highminded1 but fear6 ,let us not boast ourselves in our light nor in our freedom6 ,let us not count but weigh our safeguards6 ,let us make large allowance for waste1 even in our blessings6 ,holy ,scripture is multiplied among us1 till it is a very proverb of cheapness--see that there be not1 concerning it1 at once an arrogance and a despite6 ,is the ,bible dear to your hearts1 as well as plentiful in your homes8 ,do you not only fight for it1 but wrestle with ,god over it8 ,do you draw from it1 not your weapons of attack1 but your helmet and your shield and your breastplate8 ,in these days you sorely need them4 ,remember how only 7,st4 ,paul says7 we can wield the ,spirit's sword--even by praying always in the ,spirit4 ,take to your heart the words of a great orator of our time1 speaking1 as a ,catholic ,priest1 in the very centre and focus of ,romanism1 in behalf--strange1 strange1 strange phenomenon--in behalf of a new ,bible ,society for ,italy6--8,catholics and ,protestants1 but all ,christians1 behold1 we are united in this city1 which has been the cause of our separation6 ,this ,book is our bond of union4 4 4 4 ,we are all children of the ,bible1 but we are fallen1 divided1 powerless4 4 4 4 ,the ,bible has been neglected4 4 4 4 ,the life of the ,church is the life of the soul in ,christ1 and of ,christ in the soul4 4 4 4 ,direct and vital dealings with ,god's ,word will give reality to our religious life1 and will defend us alike from scepticism and from superstition4 4 4 4 ,a day is coming--and my heart tells me it is not far off--in which the question shall not be whether men are ,roman ,catholics1 or ,greek ,catholics1 or ,lutheran ,protestants1 or ,reformed ,protestants1 but only whether they are true ,catholics1 and1 above all1 true ,christians4 4 4 4 ,we shall enter the city of ,god1 ,bible in hand1 singing in every language1 and in every denominational peculiarity1 but with one faith and with one heart3 and that city of our unity shall be called the city of ,peace1 for it shall be1 as saith the ,prophet1 the city of ,truth40 ,such is ,god's order3 ,truth first1 then ,peace3 ,light first1 then ,love2 ,love out of1 because of1 the ,light4 ,may ,god1 of ,his infinite mercy1 realize that hope1 grant that prayer1 in ,his time--and bring us all1 in the knowledge of the ,son of ,god1 unto a perfect man1 unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of ,christ6 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,,london3 ,r4 ,,clay1 ,,sons1 ,,and ,,taylor1 ,,printers4